


The Forest

by great_neckpectations



Category: Black Panther (2018), Black Panther (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-04 22:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15850263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/great_neckpectations/pseuds/great_neckpectations
Summary: Anwuli is a hearer in the Jabari tribe. Her abilities allow her to communicate with trees. Soon her abilities will be tested when a stranger threatens Wakanda and a force threatens the world.





	1. Chapter 1

In Jabari lore, it is said that there are seers and there are hearers. Seers can see the past, the present, and the future of others. They can see spirits of the past and communicate with them to help them make sense of things of the present and the future.

Then there are the hearers. Hearers are one with nature. They can hear the spirits not of the ancestors, but of the sacred Jabari trees. Every living thing has a spirit, whether it man, ant, fish, or tree. Seers and hearers are one in the same at times since spirit is spirit. Our spirits do not cease to exist once our physical form is no more, our spirits transfer to something else.

Anwuli was a hearer. Despite the meaning of her name, she was a melancholy child. She seemed burdened with her abilities. Everything seemed loud in a place that many people sought peace and refuge. Yet since she was a small girl, she tended to the forest like other hearers before her. She trimmed the branches of her people’s sacred trees with her machete. They spoke to her. Sometimes they spoke of secrets of others. They told her when they longed for the rain or the warmer weather. They spoke about the other living things around them.

“The flowers say the frost will come early this year”. “The mushrooms are beginning to overgrow because of the warm summer”. These messages Anwuli would relay back to Lady Adaku, leader of the tribe. What humans missed, the trees did not. This relationship with the trees had been in place since the Jabari made home in the mountains centuries ago.

When Lady Adaku stepped down from the throne, her son, M’Baku took her place. When Lady Adaku’s spirit joined the plane of the ancestors, Anwuli and the seers knew before others of the tribe knew. “Another spirit has joined the ancestral plane. We can feel it in our branches. Her spirit is very powerful like that of the Gorilla”.

News spread and the traditional celebration of life took place in Lady Adaku’s honor. When a new leader takes the throne, they have a knobkerrie made for them to use in battle. One especially made for them and the hearer chooses the tree that calls to her. Anwuli now played matchmaker for M’Baku for what the Jabari called “chọta gị ike” or “to find your power”.

The two sat upon the journey to find the tree in question. M’Baku had seen Anwuli around the palace, but never said more than formalities.

Anwuli was plump like most Jabari women but on the short side at 5′6. Her head was crowned with traditional head scarf that women like her wore. One of her twists escaped on the left side of her face that she never bother to pin up. Usually those types of women were older and married, but Anwuli was 25 and only sought the company of trees.

M’Baku’s long, toned legs that accompanied his 6′5 frame attempted to walk behind Anwuli. even when his desire to lead overcame him. If he wanted his knobkerrie, he would have to depend on her knowledge and the discretion of the towering timbers before them.

“Is this the tree?”, he inquired looking over to the much smaller Anwuli.

“No”.

The two continued on their journey through the vast forest. The air was chill and heavy with moisture. It was silent except for the crunch of dead leaves under their boots.

“I believe my knobkerrie should be from this one. It is grand and deep rooted. Very sturdy. Like me!”, he laughed.

“Please Lord M’Baku, have patience. The tree that will produce your knobkerrie will let us know. They are never wrong. It must want you as much as you want it”.

“How do you know? This is your first chota. How can you be sure?”, M’Baku interrogated.

“I know because they tell me. And they have told us since we set foot on this land”, Anwuli replied with more bass in her voice. She could tell this would be a long process. Anwuli was a quiet woman, she preferred to listen. However, she found herself talking more than she ever had with him.

Trudging into the forest, M’Baku’s large foot almost squashed a lizard blending into the brown foliage. He carefully picked up the small creature and relocated it away from the main walking path. Anwuli made note of the act of kindness for later.

The matchmaking process took three days. And for three days the pair walked through the forest in search of the perfect match. They made camp at night and continued their mission when the sun was high.

The trees seemed to be stubborn. This annoyed the young Lord immensely. However, M’Baku enjoyed the company of the petite woman who facilitated this sacred ritual. When she did speak, it was insightful. She was funny and sarcastic. Anwuli mostly spent time with the trees, but she could not deny her enjoyment of talking to another human, especially a handsome one. It was something about his willfulness coupled with softness that reminded her of the trees.

“He likes you, you know”, one tree whispered.

“Please. He is trying to sweet talk you all, not I”, Anwuli replied. What she thought was a mindless whisper was heard by M’Baku.

“What if I am, eh?” His admission caused Anwuli to stop in her tracks as they searched the forest.

“Well then I would say you are really barking up the wrong tree”, Anwuli giggle out.

A slight breeze danced through the leaves of the trees as both Anwuli and M’Baku laughed. The two stared at one another and smiled before Anwuli continued on the trail guiding them deeper into the forest. Anwuli with all her time spent in the forest had never venture this far into the lush terrain.

The two decided to rest. M’Baku started a fire and Anwuli unpacked the bags of kola nuts and dried fruit. The silence was comfortable. Even the tress were quiet.

“I feel as though the trees are playing a trick on me”, M’Baku grunted as he poured a handful of dried mango bites into his mouth.

“They would never, but this is becoming exhaustive”. Anwuli huffed and rubbed her burning thighs.

“Here let me help”. Before Anwuli could protest, M’Baku had pulled her thigh into his lap and massaged deep, firm circles into her plush thighs. Anwuli’s breath hitched and she contained the moan that was stuck in her throat.

Another breeze caused the leaves of the trees to sway once more.

“We told you”, they teased.

“Urgh. That’s enough!”, Anwuli bellowed

M’Baku stopped his ministrations causing Anwuli to cover her mouth with her hand and gasp.

“Not you! I meant the trees. Please do not stop”. Anwuli exposed more of her thigh for him.

M’Baku grinned and continued massaging her leg.

“What do the trees say to you?”. M’Baku cocked his brow as his rough callous fingers gently kneaded Anwuli’s flesh. Anwuli became flushed and her breathing increased.

“Oh silly gossip. Nothing important”. Anwuli unconsciously licked her lips as she studied how M’Baku lips curled as he concentrated on Anwuli’s thighs.

“You should kiss him”, a tree cooed.

All her life, Anwuli had been guided by the trees and they never steered her wrong and today could not have been different. Anwuli rose to her knees and leaned forward to cup M’Baku’s gruff face in her hands.

“They say to kiss you”.

M’Baku wrapped his long arms around Anwuli’s ample waist and crashed her lips into his. Her lips tasted of the sweet and salty mix from the nuts and fruit they ate.

“Come”, a faint voice demanded,

Anwuli broke the fevered kiss to look around for the voice,

“What it is?”, M’Baku said with a look of concern.

“I heard something, but I am not sure”. Anwuli proceeded to kiss M’Baku again. His thick lips parted to oblige her tongue that sought entrance.

“Over here”, the faint voice was louder this time.

Anwuli broke the kiss once more and stood up to look around at their surroundings.

“Where are you?”, she pleaded with the voice

“Over here”

“Here”

“Come”

Anwuli sprinted in the direction of the voice leaving M’Baku to chase behind her. She kept running until she reached the tree speaking. She could tell by the size that it was not as old as the others. However it seemed strong. She slowly approached it and grazed its bark.

“Here”, it answered to her touch, She turned to an out of breath M’Baku and nodded.

They two returned with a huge thick branch cut from the chosen tree. The branch was taken away by a weapon maker to become the new Lord’s knobkerrie.

“Thank you, Anwuli”. M’Baku bowed to her.

* * *

 

6 months had passed since the chota. Anwuli laid on a fur blanket among the trees listening as she always had. She mindlessly fiddled with the wooden ring on finger bejeweled with topaz. She smiled thinking of her betrothed, who those same trees guided her to.

Hpwever, today they were oddly silent and the whispers she did hear were not directed towards her.

“Did you see the birds?”, they murmured to each other.

“What do you mean?”. Anwuli sat up and listened harder. They ignored her question and steadied their chatter.

“What is happening? I demand to know!”. Anwuli’s voice echoed throughout the woods.

“The birds are leaving, but not going the right way”. They finally directed their conversation to her

“Wha –?” Before Anwuli could finish, she looked up and saw the birds flying west away from the Golden City and away from Jabariland.

That direction was strange for Wakanda’s native birds for any time of the year. She then noticed rustle between bushes as small animals such a rabbits and mice headed west.

“Something is happening. I feel it. Something is wrong”, an elder tree announced.

Anwuli drew in a large breath to calm her racing pulse, that’s when she smelled it. Something moist and salty like the sea.

“This cannot be a storm”. She began to gather her things as the trees talked louder. Their incessant voices began to make her head spin.

“Something is coming. He is coming!”, the trees began to shout in unison. The noise was deafening. Anwuli covered her ears to no avail.

“Go! Run! Warn them! He is coming”. Never before had Anwuli heard the trees scream in terror. She felt as if her heart was in the pit of her stomach as their screams fell on her ears.

So Anwuli ran. She ran as fast as possible. She ran pass a man trying to calm his ox by the side of the road. M’Baku would be training with the army this time of the day, so she ran towards the training barracks. She stopped to catch her breath and to take in the surroundings. Things were eerily silent in the town square, except for the cries of scared animals, whimpering and of course there were the trees. The wind carried their wails even as Anwuli ran further away from them.

She finally reached the area where M’Baku directed the fighting drills among the Jabari warriors. The drills came to a stand still when they noticed an out of breath Anwuli appear.

“My love, what brings you here? Why have you been running?” M’Baku approached her with a face full of concern.

“Something…”, she huffed.

“Something is wrong”, she sobbed out. The cries of the trees began to choke her and she found it hard to speak

“My love, what is wrong?”. M’Baku held her close to his chest.

Anwuli finally was able to push out words.

“He is coming!”, she screeched

“Who is? use your words woman!”. M’Baku shook her as his nostrils flared at her inapt communication.

Anwuli’s dead-eyes looked right through her future husband as her mind flashed with images of tidal waves carrying lifeless bodies and ripping trees from their roots.

She muttered a name under her breath.

“Please speak up. Who is this man?” M’Baku’s face was painted with panic as the other warriors looked on in concern.

“Namor”.


	2. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anwuli is a hearer in the Jabari tribe. Her abilities allow her to communicate with trees. Soon her abilities will be tested when a stranger threatens Wakanda and a force threatens the world.

“Who is Nay-mor?”

Anwuli sobbed uncontrollably, heaving and grunting and barely standing upright. M’Baku supported most of her weight as he continued to question her.

“Anwuli please breathe”, he pleaded to her. As he grabbed her by her arms to position her straight, he noticed the steady stream of blood dripping from her nose and her fully black eyes.

“Tell the healers to meet me at the palace immediately!”. M’Baku lifted Anwuli’s ragdoll-like figure over his shoulder and rushed to his home to await the healers. Her breath was shallow and small, ragged gasps alerted M’Baku that his future wife was still alive.

Once they arrived at the palace, M’Baku placed Anwuli’s sweat covered, nearly limp body on his bed. The healers came into the room after his arrival and shooed him away as they worked to keep Anwuli in the land of the living. They brought cool, damp clothes to her forehead to cool her increased body temperature. The healers, led by seer Ndidi, mixed special herbs to fight infection and inflammation and to sedate her.

M’Baku stood outside the door of his bedroom pacing and full of worry. In his 30 years, he had never seen a seer or hearer react this way to visions nor had he heard stories of such from elders.

 

* * *

 

  *In the dream world*

_Anwuli floated in the darkness. Whispers surrounded her as she kicked and screamed to find grounding. She was weightless in what seemed like an endless void of black. There was no evidence of light. The starkness felt overwhelming._

_“Why is she here?”_

_“Is she dead?”_

_“She’s not supposed to be here”_

_“Anwuli did you tell everyone?”_

_“YES! YES! Where am I? Please! Where is M’Baku?”, she demanded of the voices_

_“You’re in the Ákwà”, one of the voices answered_

_“Why?”. Anwuli’s faint voice echoed among the nothiness. She remained on her back but she lost what energy she had left trying to find footing. She gave into the lack of gravity. It was almost peaceful to surrender her body and not feel any force acting upon her body._

_“Did she see too much? No one should be able to see and hear it all at once”_

_“Yet she did and she is alive…for the most part”_

_“Why do you talk as if I am not here?”, Anwuli croaked out._

_“You have to go back, Anwuli”, a older but gentler voice told her._

_“How do I do that? I want to go home”. Anwuli began to cry once more._

_“You must talk to the panther and the Goddess with white hair”, the elder instructed._

_Suddenly Anwuli felt pulling on her body then a heavy weight causing her to fall._

* * *

She felt her body drop and was shaken out of her deep slumber. She awoken to a ringing in her ear that caused her to cover her ears. It felt like a ton of bricks had hit her and her attempt to sit up cause her more dizziness. The room seemed to spin and be out of focus. Her head pounded and her mouth was dry. This felt worse than any hangover or sickness she ever experienced.

Once the ringing ceased and the room stopped its revolutions, Anwuli tried to sit up once more. She was successful this time. When she opened her mouth to call out for her lover, her throat felt stinging and raw. Anwuli shifted under the covers to plant her feet on wooden floor of the bedroom. She knew she was in M’Baku’s room and he would not be far away. She noticed the bowl of liquid on the nightstand to which she grabbed and smelled its contents. She could tell it was medicine the healers used to make those nearing death comfortable. She took a sip which resulted in some relief to her throat.

She forced her legs to take on the weight of standing. She wobbled, having to hold on to the nightstand for balance. Her whole body felt sore and each step was uncoordinated and painful. She felt so close to the bedroom door yet so far. She finally reached the copper knob and opened the door.

The opening of the door alerted the guards who rushed to Anwuli just before she collapsed having spent most of her energy making the short journey.

“Lord M’Baku, Anwuli has awoken!”, one guard alerted.

M’Baku’s large muscled frame quickly appeared from around the corner and he made a b-line to Anwuli.

“My love, you’re alive!”, he sighed in relief but still with concern in his voice.

“M’Ba—”, Anwuli muttered

“Don’t speak, my love. You must rest and get better”. He took Anwuli and cradled her in his arms.

“T’Ch—”. Anuwli’s eyes began to flutter as she was beginning to lose consciousness once more.

“Please, Anwuli. Just rest”, M’Baku begged. Anwuli fought the darkness to push out her next sentence.

“Find T’Challa and the white-haired Goddess”, she pushed out before fainting in M’Baku’s arms.

M’Baku looked up with wild and mortified eyes.

“Tell the healers to come back and prepare an entourage for a journey to the Golden City”, he barked to his guards.

He looked down at Anwuli’s anxious face as she twitched in her slumber. He carried her back into bed as he accompanied his guards for their travels. As the healers rushed into the room, M’Baku gave the woman he had fallen in love with only months before, one more look and left.

   

* * *

                                                                                                                                                   

“T’Challa, we are taking care of this. The X-Men have left Wakanda”.

“No thanks to you. The Avengers and I will find her to stop this mess”, T’Challa spat. He sat on his throne in the great meeting hall. He rubbed small circles on his temple and sighed heavy.

“Please leave, Ororo”, he spoke as his head was still hung low.

“T’Challa, please. The Avengers and X-Men should work together. Scott is not himself. I believe he’s been compromised. The women with white hair moved closer to the king, gently bringing a hand to his shoulder. T’Challa winced at the contact.

“Ororo, I will not repeat myself. Leave now. I do not wish to speak to you. Once this ordeal is over, we will discuss everything, until then you are a liability to Wakanda.”

“A liability? I am your wife! I am queen!”, she yelled. The sky began to darken and crack as her fist clenched.

“Hah, you’re proving my point. You X-Men are out of control”, T’Challa accused as he stood to his feet staring down the woman before him. His panther suit began to react to his anger protecting his body from the neck down, leaving his head bare to continue his confrontation.

“Fine. I will leave, but please do not start something you cannot finish”, she warned before turning her heel and walking out the room.

General Okoye entered room after the white-haired woman left.

“T’Challa, an entourage of Jabari warriors led by M’Baku demand a meeting with you”. She stood straight as a spear, lips pursed.

“Turn them away or tell them I am not here”. He waved off.

“My king, they speak of someone named Namor”.

T’Challa’s eyes widen at the name. T’Challa seethed and scoffed.

“General, please send word to Rogers and the Asgardian to come to Wakanda immediately. As for the Jabari, tell M’Baku I will meet with only him”.

“My king, what is happening?” Worry painted Okoye’s mahogany face.

“War, General”


End file.
